F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 113: A Bright Future Ahead

Some people, even when it's not their home turf, seem to be forced into a home turf.

Before leaving the convoy, the cake that I hadn't had a chance to share that morning almost found its final resting place.

It wasn't anyone in the team, but the most eccentric and mischievous guy in the paddock right now. You don't even need to use a process of elimination to know which one it was.
No one knows where Lando got it from, but while Shulong was being called outside the P room for a brief interview, Lando, carrying a cake, crept up behind the crowd to Shulong's vicinity.

At that moment, the cake was only 0.01 centimeters away from Shu Long's face. Thanks to his natural talent and the boost from the panel's attributes, his reaction speed was incredible! And there was also a slight reflection in the cameraman's lens!
However, this would mean the reporter responsible for interviewing Shulong would suffer an undeserved fate.
Back at the hotel, Shu Long felt incredibly exhausted, as if he had unintentionally forgotten something.

The next morning, as soon as I arrived at the convoy in Shulong, I saw the engineers lining the entrance to the P-room to welcome me again, and there was yet another huge birthday cake inside.

Seriously? The days have passed, and you can still make a second round of cakes?
Fortunately, the main character of the story is not Shu Long. It's Toro Rosso's reserve driver Kvyat's birthday today, and their birthdays happen to be close together.

Moreover, since Kvyat didn't have many media commitments, the team simply dumped the cake on the Russian guy's head on the spot.

This is simply the most obvious difference in treatment between official drivers and substitute drivers.

Cream flew everywhere. The Kvyat people truly lived up to their reputation as a fighting nation; even though he was about to become a father, he held his own against ten men.

Fortunately, Shulong lifted up Uncle Tost, the team leader, as a human shield, and barely escaped disaster.

Fortunately, even though the atmosphere was relatively relaxed due to the fact that most of the team members were Italian, such unrestrained revelry was short-lived. They quickly demonstrated the high efficiency expected of an F1 crew, swiftly cleaned up the battlefield, and returned to racing mode.

On Friday and Saturday mornings that followed, the testing and setup tasks for the three practice matches felt about five or six times more than those for the previous race.

Ten sets of red tires. The process for each section of the tour is to put on the new red tires, go out and run a few extreme flight laps, and then run a long distance to check the tire performance.

During the test, I briefly tested the white tires to meet the Pirelli requirements, but the overall performance was so poor that I had to replace them after less than fifteen laps.

To be on the safe side, we also tested the yellow tires over a long distance. As expected before the race, this compound not only ensured high-quality lap times for a long time, but also had better wear resistance than the harder white tires.

It's fair to say that Pirelli's adjustments to tire compounds this year are rather humorous.

Instead of figuring out how to push the car beyond its speed limits, many teams in the early stages of the season are trying to find ways to match the car's style to the tires' performance. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?
Pirelli also seems to be reflecting on this issue and is preparing to make a series of improvements for the 18-inch tires in 21. Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault have already agreed to provide modified test vehicles for the tire's development and testing. The first round of testing will take place in mid-September.

As for the specifics of the practice match...
All I can say is that good news keeps coming!

Toro Rosso's overall performance can no longer be described as particularly strong; at one point, they even displayed an aura comparable to the three elite racing teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, and Toro Rosso.

Shu Long's fastest lap time in FP1 ranked P2, second only to Vettel. Starting in FP2, Ferrari began to accelerate, but Shu Long still held a firm P3 position, with only the two Ferrari cars ahead of him.

The third practice session focused on balancing the car's performance over long distances, but Shu Long was still able to stay in P5 until the clock stopped. Although Hans Christiansen and Verstappen squeezed in, Shu Long was still able to keep a steady 0.2 seconds ahead of Bottas.

This was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise for the team, as Shulong's performance in street racing was nothing short of terrifying.

In his eyes, the guardrails along the roadside were practically non-existent. He would choose the braking point before every right-angle turn so late it was terrifying. When exiting the turn, the tires could screech against the advertising paper pasted on the foam guardrail.

Especially the narrowest sections of the entire track, also known as the "Castle Bends," namely sections eight and nine, as well as the series of low-speed corners that follow!

After repeated trials in three rounds of practice races, Shu Long finally determined a steering over-steering tuning scheme that prioritized maximizing mechanical grip at the expense of slightly sacrificing some straight-line performance. This allowed him to thrive here, moving as smoothly as a swimming dragon.

If Hamelin was still sweating bullets watching Shulong's first attempt at propulsion, the entire crew became completely numb to it later on.

The threshold of human acceptance changes with changes in cognition. When the dragon ruthlessly crushes the "limit" that originally existed in the engineers' concept, then the original standard naturally no longer deserves to be called the "limit".

Not only Shulong, but Albon also had very strong lap times in the three practice sessions, and he was able to consistently stay around P7 or P8.

Moreover, there is something else that is also a major positive for Alben.

Gareth was penalized by being sent to the pit lane to start the second practice session because he failed to weigh his car according to FIA requirements and regulations, thus missing out on qualifying.

The effect may not be so obvious for Shulong, but for Alben it is almost equivalent to automatically moving up a place in the qualifying round.

At first glance, it seems that Ferrari has found a solution to the engine problem again. In addition, both drivers are known for their extreme driving skills, and they displayed a dominant performance on the Baku track.

But to be honest, when Toro Rosso's engineers went to study the wiring harnesses of the two Ferraris, their expressions unconsciously carried a hint of disdain.

Is there anything special about this? It's just average!

If it weren't for the Ferrari's powerful engine propelling it across the straights, these thoroughly convinced Italians would have no doubt that Shulong would have been over 60% confident, or even considered, directly challenging for pole position.

Why is it that when people talk about Italy or F1, they all think of Ferrari?

Let me ask you this: Aren't we Toro Rosso an Italian racing team? Aren't we racing in Formula 1?!
Mercedes seems to be struggling to adapt to the newly introduced low-drag components, resulting in lackluster performance in both medium and low-speed corners.

That's the charm of streetball.
Aside from the rain, these track conditions undoubtedly narrowed the gap between the cars and amplified the role of the drivers in the race.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the race on the edge of a knife in Shulong seems unscathed. In reality, the Baku track is notoriously difficult and has given countless drivers a real headache.

In just three practice matches, countless yellow flags were raised, and even four red flags appeared, making it a truly entertaining affair.

Things like crashing into walls and breaking suspensions are no longer surprising, but can you believe there were anti-tank mines on the track?

The incident started when Leclerc loosened a manhole cover, and then the unfortunate Russell happened to drive over it, sucking the cover up and giving his car a fatal blow. Then, while the crane was lifting the car back, the boom accidentally hit an overpass, causing fluid to leak all over the Williams.
It can only be said that the rope always breaks at its thinnest point, and misfortune always finds those with a hard life.

However, this incident also served as a reminder to Shulong that the variables in street racing may go far beyond just mistakes and crashes. Sometimes, even a trash bag floating by on the street blocking the air intake could ruin the entire game.

After Russell's base was breached, Shulong consciously avoided those horrible manhole covers almost every lap, fearing he would be the next unlucky one.

It's such a rare opportunity to have a very clear competitive edge on the podium, it would be a sin to waste it!
After three practice sessions, it was time for the F2 long-distance race. In a good mood, Shu Long even went to check it out.

Zhou Guanyu's performance in yesterday's qualifying round was not ideal, and he finished in thirteenth place.

On the bright side, this position won't be affected by the reverse grid start, allowing for a consistent push for points in both the main race and the sprint. However, racking up big points might be a bit difficult.

As a result, Shu Long was too busy to call Gan Mengning back last night. Instead, he spent a long time analyzing the strong attacking points of F2 at the Baku circuit as a small return gift for Gan Mengning's birthday celebration.

Then Zhou Guanyu withdrew from the competition.
Having witnessed this scene firsthand, Shu Long awkwardly covered his face and quietly left, avoiding the surrounding cameras.

Zhou Guanyu withdrew from the race because he bumped the front wing while overtaking. He knew that pitting to change would only cause him to finish the race at the back of the pack in a humiliating way, so he simply chose to withdraw.

This wasn't actually Zhou Guanyu's mistake. Strictly speaking, it was caused by the car in front illegally changing lanes in the braking zone. While the car in front was penalized with a time penalty, Zhou Guanyu's runaway front wing could never return.

As for why Shulong felt awkward?
It's not that it's unbearable to watch, but the main reason is that the overtaking point Zhou Guanyu chose was the one he personally suggested last night.
Fortunately, Mick also withdrew from this match, and the reason for his withdrawal was quite foolish.

There was no particular reason; it was simply that he accelerated too much when exiting Turn 16, without any external interference. The result, of course, was that the car spun out of the wall on the spot.

This happening in the second game is incredibly unlucky. Shu Long felt that Zhou Guanyu's words were filled with despair.

Shu Long, who also comes from a Chinese background, is now almost competing for pole position in F1. If he continues to languish in the lower classes like this, will his hopes become even slimmer?
However, Zhou Guanyu, who may have withdrawn from the competition, saw some clips of Mike's mistakes somewhere, and his words became noticeably more cheerful.

All I can say is, Mick, as a former teammate, you are absolutely amazing!
Zhou Guanyu himself has a very gentle and easy-going personality. He is usually not known to have any enemies. Everyone who has interacted with him speaks highly of him.

His popularity even led several Sky Sports commentators to have an unusual fondness for him, almost treating him as family.

But among all these people, there is only one Mick who has been on Xiao Zhou's mind all this time.

It's not that there's any direct and particularly irreconcilable conflict between the two. Apart from the minor collisions that happened during their competition on the track, Mick's personality is actually quite good.

Despite being said to be a relative, he didn't exude the arrogance typical of people with connections. On the contrary, because of his father's immense reputation and the high expectations placed upon him by the outside world, he was even a bit overly introverted.

The root of the problem is that he is really bad at the game, and the key point is that even though he has run so badly, there are still countless resources chasing after him in the paddock.

This is undoubtedly very unfair to other young drivers. Ultimately, the root of the conflict between Zhou Guanyu and Mick lies in this unfairness.

Did Mick do anything unforgivable? Probably not, but his name has almost become a tangible metaphor for the phrase "fate is not in his own hands, he depends entirely on his father" in the minds of this generation of drivers.

Anyway, if Mick makes a fool of himself or goes astray, most of the drivers currently racing in F2 are probably secretly delighted.

Everyone knew this, but it was not easy to say it openly, so Shu Long could only choose to continue to follow the script.

"It's okay, it's okay. I've learned my lesson this time. I'll come back stronger in tomorrow's sprint!"

"Stop comforting me, hurry up and prepare for the afternoon's ranked match."

"Getting ready, getting ready! I feel invincible for this leg of the race!"

"Tch~ Clatter clatter clatter clatter! It's rare to see Toro Rosso's car so aggressive. If you can beat Max in this race, you're guaranteed a spot on the Red Bull team next year. Replicating Vettel's miracle will be just around the corner!"

Just as Zhou Guanyu was about to vomit, Shu Long quickly emitted a sharp bang to interrupt him.

"Pah! Don't make any promises you can't keep! You know how complicated things are in the paddock, right? You can't keep talking about it until something good actually happens."

"Alright, then I'll stop talking about it for now. Speaking of Vettel, I remember you broke a few of his records, didn't you?"

"I guess so? Actually, I didn't pay too much attention to it. This thing has a lot to do with racing and luck."

"Tch, you can just stay here and be a nobody!"

Shu Long chuckled twice, shutting out Zhou Guanyu's envy, jealousy, and hatred from the other side of the screen.

To be precise, he didn't actually break Vettel's record, but Verstappen's, and both records were broken at last year's Brazilian Grand Prix.

"Youngest person to lead the race" and "Youngest person to stand on the podium"

The previous record was held by Verstappen at 18 years and 228 days, which Shulong broke at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix by a narrow margin of 18 years and 201 days.

As he just said, if Verstappen hadn't crashed with Ocon at Turn 3, he wouldn't have earned this rather meaningless title.

Unfortunately, Verstappen's record as the "youngest Grand Prix winner" in the same race will not have a chance, after all, Shu Long just celebrated his 19th birthday the day before yesterday. No matter how good he is, he can't turn back time, right?
However, Zhou Guanyu is right about one thing: no matter who the opponent is, whether they are a world champion or a record holder, Shu Long is absolutely confident that he can compete with anyone for the world championship!
As long as he gets the chance to drive a Mars-class race car!
For example—Red Bull next year.

(End of this chapter)